The 'Doomsday Argument' and Ecological Catastrophe.

Abstract

The so-called ‘Doomsday Argument’ of Carter, Nielsen, Leslie, Gott, and Bostrom is examined, in conjunction with attempts to refute it, in relation to the real-world prospects of catastrophic climate and environmental change, and loss of biodiversity. If the late James Lovelock was right in his hypothesis that the biosphere is protected by a ‘Gaia’ self-defence mechanism, humans may well face extinction precisely because they constitute a threat to the survival of the biosphere.

The Fatal Absence of Evidence for Extraterrestrial Intelligence and its Consequence for Humanity.

“…The present author has discussed the issue of the possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligent life previously, in Blaber (2005 [1]). He has also discussed the so-called 'doomsday argument' and its relation to the possibility, indeed probability, of ecological catastrophe (see Blaber, 2022, [2]; Blaber, 2023a [3]; Blaber, 2023b [4]). The only glimmer of hope he sees is the possibility (not, by any means, a remote one) that the global capitalist system will collapse financially before it does so ecologically, the latter mode of collapse being inevitable, if he is correct (Blaber, 2023c [5]).…”